Star Wars: Discovery
by FBueller129
Summary: The discovery of a wormhole connecting two galaxies forever changes the course of history and sets the stage for a struggle that will either bring a new era of peace or a dark age that neither galaxy will ever recover from.
1. Angelus Errare

_-Copyright Information-_

_Star Wars and all characters, technologies, locations, etc. is the exclusive property of LucasArts. Babylon 5 and all characters, technologies, locations, etc. is the exclusive property of Time Warner. Please respect the property rights of these two companies and do not distribute this story for money, sexual favors or any other type of compensation_

_All original characters are the property of the writer. _

_If you do distribute this story on any other site please include the above statement._

_-Acknowledgements-_

_I'd like to thank the people at Wookiepedia and the Babylon Project for putting up the information that allowed me to get this fan fiction as close to canon as possible in terms of technical, scientific and location data. I'd also like to thank Garreth Williams, author of A Dark, Distorted Mirror, and AlbertG, author of A Universe of Change, whose works inspired me to try my hand at fan fiction. I know that I will probably be unable to match their skill in writing but I hope to try. And thanks to the fans that were patiently waiting for this story to come back online._

**Chapter One**

**Angelus Errare**

"_And so it begins…"_

_Personal journal of Kosh Naranek, 2247_

The Imperial Star Destroyer _Vigilance_ lurked in the shadow of the Ingratta System's sole planetary body, an ultra massive gas giant. The ship was currently running dark. All of its external navigation lights had been extinguished and all visible interior lighting either shut off or hidden behind polarization screens in order to ensure that the ship could not be spotted visually. Its powerful sensors were passively scanning local space for the telltale energy signatures of hyperspace reversion. The _Vigilance_ simply blended seamlessly into the inky darkness like a wraith in the night waiting for its quarry to finally arrive.

Inside the ship, Captain Mikel Scarn slowly paced past the massive transparisteel windows that took up the entire forward bulkhead of the bridge. They were currently blacker than the night itself. The polarization screen built into the window had been dialed to full opacity to prevent any light from escaping. He had avoided looking directly into those wells of blackness since they had entered the system a day and a half ago, half remembering a nightmare he had once when he was a child.

He pushed those thoughts aside, his mind focusing on the mission at hand. They had been ordered to the Ingratta System deep in the Outer Rim in order to interdict an arms shipment to the so called Alliance to Restore the Republic. For the past year, this upstart rebel group had been launching attacks against Imperial outposts and had even attempted to assassinate Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader with the help of Jedi that survived the Great Purge. Imperial Intelligence wanted prisoners to question so that they could gather information on who the ringleaders of this group were. He simply wanted to ask them what had compelled them to want to a return of the most corrupt and inept government in the history of the Starrunner Galaxy.

Mikel had spent the last eighteen of his forty-two years protecting the Galactic Empire and its citizens from the forces of chaos and disorder, namely aliens, criminals and malcontents. He believed in the New Order which had advocated the enslavement of non-Human species in order to ensure that society was protected from disruptive and uncivilized elements. It was allowing aliens to hold political power that led to the corruption within the Old Republic and even launched the devastating Clone Wars. Most aliens were nothing more than criminals or conquerors that were jealous of Humanity's place in the galaxy.

And then there were the atrocities committed by the savages, both Human and non-Human. Planets ravaged both physically and economically by groups like the Hutts, Black Sun and the Rebel Alliance. Families separated by death and slaver raids. People brutally murdered for doing nothing more than trying to live their lives.

Years of seeing these kinds of atrocities had taken their toll on him physically making him seem older than he actually was. His once jet-black hair was beginning to show signs of premature graying at the temples. His green eyes which had once been full of life and mirth had become as cold and hard as stone. He was beginning to develop crow's feet in the corners of his eyes. Those that knew him from his days in the Academy would have hardly recognized him.

There was also the emotional toll that his service to the Empire inflicted. He had been estranged from his family on Corellia for the past eighteen years due to his decision to renounce the Old Republic and swear allegiance to Emperor Palpatine's New Order. He could still remember the hurt in his parents' eyes when he told them. They claimed to be unable to understand his decision to reject a government that the Scarn family had served since the days of Jedi Civil War. They believed the Old Republic to be a bastion of hope and peace for the galaxy while he knew it to be a corrupt and inefficient sham manipulated by the power hungry Jedi.

"Captain," a solitary female voice called out to him, breaking him out of his reverie.

Mikel ceased his pacing and looked down into the starboard bridge pit where the _Vigilance's_ Tactical and Sensor Stations were located. His Executive Officer, Commander Jan Levins, returned his gaze from behind the ship's holographic tactical display. The blonde Alderaanian looked extremely out of place among the throng of male officers and crew. In fact, the presence of a woman on an Imperial military vessel was as uncommon as standing water on Tatooine.

"What is it Levins," he barked sharply. In the three months since she had been assigned to his ship against his objections he had done everything in his power to make her as uncomfortable as possible. He believed that a woman's place was in the home not serving in the military or in politics. He even refused to address her by her rank and did nothing to discipline other officers that did the same, even those supposedly subordinate to her.

How she had managed to even attain the rank of Commander was a mystery to him. According to her records, she had been stationed on one backwater after another for pretty much her entire career. However, her superiors had put her up for promotion time and time again. He suspected that she was one of those women who slept their way to the top. How else could she have advanced so far in rank and even manage to convince Admiral Vance to assign her as his Executive Officer. However, she had never even so much as shown him a glimmer of interest. While she did perform her duties exceptionally, he was always on the look out for a screw-up so that he could have her reassigned.

"We have just detected a hyperspace reversion, bearing 330 by 25," she replied without acknowledging the slight against her. She brushed back a lock of golden hair that had fallen from under her cap as she continued to scan the display. "There is a single GR-75 transport entering the system. It is on a course that will put it in orbit in ten minutes."

Scarn put a finger to his lips as he pondered this. GR-75s were as common as dirt but rarely were they used by criminals such as smugglers and the like. Their slow speed, minimal shielding and utter lack of offensive or defensive weaponry made them a liability. Arms dealers wouldn't use a ship like that without a serious escort. The lack of even a simple fighter escort made it abundantly clear this ship didn't belong to an arms dealer. That had to mean that this ship belonged to the Rebel Alliance who couldn't even afford to buy decent castoff ships or the fighters to escort them.

It also puzzled him that the arms dealer had not arrived yet. It was a standard practice for them to arrive a few hours before the sale in order to scout out the area for surprises. The _Vigilance_ had been on station for the last thirty-six hours and had detected no ships or probes. It left a nagging sensation in the back of his mind that screamed at him that something was amiss.

"Order Commander Vallana to launch and engage," he relayed to Levins. "Notify him that I want that ship's engines and hyperdrive disabled." He quickly shifted his gaze to the stocky grey haired Army officer that was leaning against the bridge doorway. The man had a bored expression on his face as he picked under his fingernails with a stiletto. "Colonel Valish if you would please prepare you men for a boarding action."

A cruel smile broke out on the man's face. "It's about time you Fleeties gave my boys something to do," he growled in a thick Corulag accent. He quickly slipped the stiletto back into his boot and looked up at Mikel. "How do you want those Rebels? Regular or extra-crispy?"

Scarn rolled his eyes in exasperation at the man's comment. "I want prisoners this time Torin," he sighed. "Hopefully we can get some information out of them that will allow us to round up the ringleaders of the Rebellion."

Mikel shook his head as the former Stormtrooper walked off the bridge and into one of the waiting lifts. He had known the man for as long as he had been serving in the Imperial Navy and had been his closest friend for just as long. For all of his eccentricities and his irreverent attitude, he was a good soldier and the kind of person you wanted watching your back in a bad situation.

"Helm, set a course to intercept the Rebel ship."

Outside, the three massive ion drives lit up with blue-white fire as the powerful engines began to push the mighty ship free of the planet's gravity well. The last squadron of TIE fighters dropped out of the hangar bay and immediately sped away to engage the transport. The exterior lit up like a holiday display as navigation lights were reactivated and polarized windows were made transparent again. It didn't take long before the _Vigilance_ crossed the night side boundary to be revealed in its full glory.

Scarn looked out at the twinkling light that was the Rebel transport, still too far away to be a full silhouette. It was surrounded by dozens of smaller lights that dodged and weaved around it. Brief streaks of green crossed space punctuated by white flashes where laser bolts impacted on shields. In a way, it was beautiful sight.

"Captain, we may have a problem," Levins announced. "The transport is altering course. It is on a direct intercept course with us."

Scarn's mind raced as he tried to think of the reasons why the Rebels were not attempting to flee. The transport had no weapons and trying to ram the _Vigilance_ would have been futile. Their weapons would tear the ship apart before it could even get close. Then a look of realization and horror appeared on his face as he came up with a possible reason.

"Order the fighters to scatter. Guns, I want that ship out of my sky now."

The _Vigilance's_ entire offensive arsenal opened up bathing the ship in green and blue light. Lances of green plasmatic energy and the pulses of ionic discharges raced across the rapidly shrinking divide between the two ships. The front end of the transport vanished behind a solid wall of energy as its shields tried to hold back the massive amount of energy being forced on it. It didn't take long before they simply collapsed and the turbolasers began tearing whole sections out of the clamshell hull. A single bolt slammed headlong into one the cargo pods slung on the underside of the ship and it vanished in a flash of light and fire that quickly began to expand outward.

The surge from the explosion slammed into the _Vigilance_ like a tsunami. The ship was nearly flipped end over end by the sheer force of the shockwave. Hellish energies ate at the shields as it passed through the solid wall of fire. It emerged from the other side glowing white hot but miraculously the shields had held and kept the energy away from the hull.

Letting loose a series of rasping coughs, Mikel picked himself off of the deck where he had fallen. He moaned as he felt the bones in his right arm grinding together as he moved. He looked around to see that the bridge was roughly in the same shape he was. Blown out consoles were pumping harsh acrid smoke into the air. The lighting kept flickering on and off giving the room an eerie appearance.

"Damage report," he croaked.

"Shields are down to fourteen percent," Levins replied painfully. She had a large welt on her forehead from where she had stuck her console. "No damage to the outer hull. There are reports of injuries across the ship. We've lost long range communications and sensors."

"How many fighters survived the blast?"

She ran a quick check and hesitated slightly before answering. "Four including Commander Vallana's, sir."

He let out a remorseful sigh at the news. So many lives wasted, sixty-eight men whose families he would have to send letters to. "Get them back aboard ASAP. We need…"

He was interrupted by an alarm from the Tactical Display. Levins eyes widened at what she saw. "I'm reading multiple hyperspace reversions off the port side. Three Neb-Bs and a Lucrehulk just entered the system. They've already launched fighters and several boarding craft."

"Where in the name of the Seven Hells did they get those ships," he asked doubting Levins could give him an adequate answer. There was one thing they had just learned and that the Rebel Alliance had to have some big financial backers for them to be able to possess and operate full blown capital ships with fighters. It wasn't the first time he had to reassess the capabilities of his enemies and he doubted it would be the last.

Now it was apparent that the whole arms shipment was a ploy to lure a ship here to be captured and the transport bomb was intended to cripple the _Vigilance_ so that the Rebels could do it with ease. Unfortunately, they had succeeded in the first part of their plan but he was not going to make it easy for them to succeed in the second part. There was no way that the _Vigilance_ could fight its way free with the damage it had sustained and the loss of all of their fighters. He had no intention of surrendering and handing over his crew to possibly be murdered by the Rebels. The only choice he had was to run.

The question was where to run to. The Rebel ships had jumped right into the path they needed to go in order to jump to hyperspace. They could run further in system, but the fighters and boarding craft would catch up long before they could even clear the planet. Without their own fighters to hold them off it wouldn't take long before they would overwhelm the _Vigilance's _already weakened shields.

"Helm, I want you to enter orbit now," he ordered hurriedly. They would have to move quickly to make this work. "I want you to bring us in as close as you can without hitting atmosphere. We'll use the planet's gravity to slingshot past the Rebel ships."

The _Vigilance_ banked hard to starboard and raced back towards the planet. The leading wave of Rebel fighters, a mix of old Y-Wings and Z-95s had already closed the distance and were setting up for their attack runs. The Star Destroyer's rear guns opened up sending a spray of fire at them in order to keep them disorganized. A lucky shot blew one of the slower Y-Wings into its constituent atoms and severely damaged another causing it to fall out of formation.

The Star Destroyer skimmed the outer edge of orange and brown clouds creating a wake that sent up a curtain of hydrogen and methane gas into space as they picked up speed. One of the turbolaser blasts ignited the pocket of gases creating a wall of fire separating the ship from the fighters. Several of them were unable to stop or serve away in time and were consumed by the flames.

A cheer erupted on the bridge as the Rebel fighters quickly fell behind unable to sustain the velocities necessary to follow them. Scarn smiled as it became clear that they were about to get away. The ship shuddered around him as they were thrown clear of the gas giant and well out of range of the Rebel capital ships.

"Prepare to make…"

A sharp flash streamed through the windows drowning every in a harsh white light. He stared as the fabric of space tore open in a violent swirl of lavender and green. He had no time to order a course change before the vast anomaly swallowed the _Vigilance_ and then shut.

_-Author's Notes-_

_Corulag accent: Southern United States accent_

_Please review but keep it clean._


	2. Reflection, Surprise, Terror

_-__Review Comments-_

_-Allen Pitt-Next question is when in the B5 timeline do they show up? His anti- alien bias would actually help Earth forces quite a lot if it's during the Earth-Mimbari war..._

_**-It is set during the Earth-Minbari War but as far as his anti-alien bias... lets just say I'll be dealing with that in this chapter.**_

_-Teutonic Knight 92-Oh and side note I hate you. You got my f%king hopes up that there was a new chapter instead of just psoting the authors note at the bottom of the page._

_**-...Sorry.**_

**Chapter Two**

**Reflection, Surprise, Terror**

_"The pain of the mind is worse than the pain of the body."_

_Latin proverb._

The air was heavy with the smell of blood, smoke and ozone. The sound of blaster fire reverberated down the narrow corridor along with shrieks of the dying. Lighting the way were deep violet streams of light emanating from holes in the rust eaten walls. Scarn made his way down the dank passageway which seemed oddly familiar to him. He felt compelled by some force he could not comprehend or resist to continue on.

As he walked an opening in the wall appeared to his left. Peeking around the corner, he saw piles of bodies of every species, gender and age spread out as far as the eye could see. Standing over them was a stooped, black robed figure surrounded by a cloud of inky smoke tinged with red flame. The figure seemed to be revelling in kicking and spitting on the corpses. Suddenly it stopped and looked up to view Scarn. Where its face should have been was only a well of darkness punctuated by two yellow, bloodshot eyes.

"The strong are the only ones fit to survive," the figure shrieked, its voice cutting through him like an icy wind. "You will be my instrument to ensure this. Only through me will the galaxy survive the oncoming storm."

Scarn quickly turned and ran down the hallway trying to escape that horrible voice that seemed to echo in his head. It slowly began to fade the farther he ran. Before too long it was a faint whisper at the back of his mind.

He finally entered what appeared to be a poorly lit cargo hold. Plain grey containers were stacked haphazardly around the entire room. Long links of chains hung from the ceiling and made the same noise as splintering bone as they came together. And from somewhere in the room, he could hear soft whimpering and crying.

Slowly making his way through the maze of crates, Scarn came across a huddled figure in a corner. It was a young Human girl of about sixteen, her clothes nothing but simple rags. She met his gaze with frightened doelike eyes and tried to retreat farther into the corner.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said softly trying to reassure her. "I'm here to help."

"Are you so sure about that," a voice shouted from behind him.

Scarn spun around and looke in horror at what could only be his doppleganger dressed in full battle armor holding the young girl by her neck with its left hand. In its right hand was a small vibroblade, the edges gleaming brightly even in the low light. Its face was twisted with a look of pure hatred and malice unlike anything he had ever seen.

"Let her go," Scarn said forcefully, quickly regaining his composure. "She has done nothing wrong."

"I don't think so," the doppleganger spat back. It flashed an evil grin as it looked the struggling girl up and down. "Don't you remember what this little bitch did. She assaulted a soldier of the Empire. She is weak, There is only one thing to do."

"No!"

It qucikly drew the vibroblade across the girl's neck, sending a spray of arterial blood gushing outward. The doppleganger released her, letting her fall limply to the deck, and wiped the blade on his trousers. It fixed him with a stern look and smiled grimly.

"For the Empire."

"No," Scarn screamed as he sat up, sweat dripping from his face. Immediately he felt hands grabbing at him forcing him back down. He struggled, trying to break free of their grasp.

"Captain relax," a male voice said soothingly yet with a hint of sternness behind it. "It was just a dream, you're safe now."

Scarn looked up and saw the elderly face of Doctor Zilliak Norals, the _Vigilance_'s Chief Medical Officer. He let out a long sigh as he relaxed back into the bed he was occupying. A dull ache began to spread across his entire body. It also felt as if a dark cloud had been lifted from his mind. He discounted it as an effect of waking so suddenly.

"I feel like I've been hit by a hovertruck," Scarn croaked as he tried to sit up. He looked around the medical bay and couldn't help but notice that many of the bacta tanks and beds were filled with wounded crewmen. "How many?"

"Luckily there were no fatalities due to our little trip," Norals said with a hint of relief. "Mostly broken bones and mild burns. You suffered a greenstick fracture of your right ulna, a concussion and a sprained left shoulder. We reset the bone and put you in the bacta tank. You've been unconscious for roughly sixteen hours."

"Our little trip," Scarn asked ignoring the doctor's summary of his condition? "Was there a malfunction with the Hyperdrive?"

"We fell through a wormhole, Captain," Levins said as she strode into the medical bay. Her uniform was disheveled and covered in soot, grease and what looked like a fair amount of blood. As she approached his bed he could see that she was on the ragged edge of exhaustion. "Right now we have no idea where we are in relation to Imperial territory."

"Say that again, Commander," he muttered in disbelief?

Instantly, he realized that was the first time since he had met her that he had ever addressed her by her rank. In that moment he realized that not once in the three months that he had known her had he ever not made her life miserable. Why had he done that and why had it not bothered him untill now? As he thought about it more, there were so many things he had done over the last eighteen years that he was now questioning why he had done them.

"We fell through a wormhole sir," she stated again, a quick look of confusion crossing her face. "Luckily, we found the exit point and it appears to be stable. We can get back home... but I felt it best to wait untill we were able to effect repairs in case the Rebels are waiting on the other side. Also travelling through the wormhole without proper shielding is a bit rocky. That is what caused most of our damage."

"How bad is the damage?"

Levins frowned as she pulled a datapad out of her pocket and began to read off it. "We've lost long range communications and sensors, the shield generators are not syncing up properly and there is an intermittent fault in the short range sensors that we haven't been able to lock down yet." She hesitated a moment and eyed him as if she expected him to erupt into an angry tirade. "Sir, it was my decision to make repairs before..."

"Commander, I'm not going to chew your head off for making a sound tactical decision," Scarn reassured her. "I want a command staff meeting in one hour in the Main Conference Room. We need to figure out how to proceed since we may be in this area of space for a while longer."

"Yes sir," she said as she turned to leave.

"And Commander," he called out. "I want you to take that hour to get some rest and get freshened up. That's an order."

Levins stopped looking completely unsure what to say. All she could manage was a nod of her head and she quickly left the room.

An hour later, Scarn sat at the head of the conference table as his command staff were giving their reports on the ship's status and what they were doing to repair the damage they had suffered. While he was listening, he was trying to figure out what had happened to not only him but the rest of his crew. What had brought on this sudden change in his mindset eighteen years before and its subsequent reversal after they arrived in this region of space? It was as if someone had implanted a seperate personality all those years ago which overrode his prevous beliefs.

He had asked Doctor Norals to run a scan on his brain and there was nothing out of the ordinary. Norals also noted that none of the other crew members that he had scanned showed any abnormalities either. But that made no sense. Something as profound and widespread as this couldn't happen without leaving some kind of mark or remnant.

"Captain?"

Scarn started as his attention was brought back to the briefing. Commander Vallana had giving his brief on establishing a close air patrol around the _Vigilance_ due to the damage to the sensors. His plan included using the _Vigilance_'s contingent of Skiprays as a replacement for the TIE fighters they had lost as well as launching probe droids to key points as an early warning system.

"The only thing I'm worried about is if we are in someone's space that they won't take too kindly to us appearing as if we are snooping," Scarn said. "But I guess it can't be avoided. Launch the probes and organize the patrols. Commander Levins if you could stay for a moment, the rest of you are dismissed."

The others rose from their chairs and exited the room. Levins remained seated at the other end of the table, eyeing him with a mix of suspicion and curiosity. Scarn waited for the doors to close before getting up himself.

"Commander...," Scarn said hesitantly. "I don't know how much this means but I have to apologize for how I've treated you this past three months. I've been disrespectful, rude and quite frankly an ass towards you."

"Fifty-seven," she whispered.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You are the fifty-seventh member of this crew to apologize to me since we came through the wormhole for the way they have acted towards me," she replied nervously. She seemed to be very uncomfortable with the whole situation. "Fifty-seven crew members, including yourself, who fifteen hours ago I thought were seriously debating whether or not to toss me out of an airlock. I don't mean to be insubordinate Captain, but that is how feel... felt... I don't know."

"I don't know either Commander," Scarn said in a reassuring tone. "I can't explain what happened before or after we travelled through the wormhole. But the best thing we can do is focus on getting home."

He extended his hand towards her. She hesitated slightly and put her hand in his and shook it.

"Agreed."

_-Author's Notes-_

_Sorry for the long delay in Chapter Two coming out. It's definitely been one of those years. Hope you enjoy._

_Please comment and keep it clean._


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